[H] Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge 1500 Eval

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Chris_Morley

Former [H] Consumer Managing Ed.
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We kicked off our new evaluation procedure of purchasing all systems anonymously. We think that this will give you peace of mind when it comes to trusting an article in that we weren't sent a product that you yourself wouldn't be able to get.

Please check out our article here:

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=ODA0
 
A good read indeed. Too bad there was another issue with the overclocked components.
 
excellent job on the review... the move to ordering anonymously is a great idea. Though it is weird to see the 66gt artifact like that. It was not even that big of an OC.

keep up the good work!
 
A nice article once again. I dont make sense of the manditory OC though??? Why push a new piece so hard???? and have it bother the customer. Id be pissed. I really like the idea of purchasing "off-the-rack" like anyone else. :D
 
Nice review.

It took me 30 min to read however, because it takes 2 min for each page to load. And clicking on images results in no-kidding 15 minute wait for the big image to appear. Is it like this for just the UK or everywhere? Happened both at work and at home so it's not my isp (ntlworld) or computer...
 
flenser said:
Nice review.

It took me 30 min to read however, because it takes 2 min for each page to load. And clicking on images results in no-kidding 15 minute wait for the big image to appear. Is it like this for just the UK or everywhere? Happened both at work and at home so it's not my isp (ntlworld) or computer...
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I'm getting it too...
 
I don't think it's the review. The site in general has absolutely crawled today.

I'm on a T3 here at work and it was taking well over a minute for those 16Kb images to load.
 
I'm really impressed with this article, and want to thank you for doing all the work on it that you did. I deal with a lot of enterprise-level purchases (ie a batch of 500-1000 computers in a purchase order) from Dell and HP? While I can't stand the damn things, that's what my IT committees insist that we procure, and Dell and HP aren't exactly willing to send demo units out.

 
I also have nothing but good things to say about the review process and the actual article. I like your writing style, it had some nice personal touches in there that made it alot less clinical than reviews can be sometimes.

Keep up the good work with the OEM reviews. I probably won't buy one any time soon but I find them very useful in recommending systems for friends/family who like to game.
 
The Bryophyte said:
I also have nothing but good things to say about the review process and the actual article. I like your writing style, it had some nice personal touches in there that made it alot less clinical than reviews can be sometimes.

Keep up the good work with the OEM reviews. I probably won't buy one any time soon but I find them very useful in recommending systems for friends/family who like to game.
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Thanks, I really appreciate it, we're trying to present them in a fun and informative way. It can be such a dry subject!
 
Sorry about the long page loads, we are having some network issues that are bogging us down since Sunday.
 
I really liked how you all are pushing the issue with them not checking out how well that thing runs with the overclocked video card. Yes failures will come but I think that if a company is going to push something they need to be able to back it up.

Good review.
 
VM upped the cpu to a 3500+ from the 3200+ since the review with no price increase, and there are two OC options now, although Im not sure if either is actually not OC'ing or if they are just different levels...
 
major_foad said:
VM upped the cpu to a 3500+ from the 3200+ since the review with no price increase, and there are two OC options now, although Im not sure if either is actually not OC'ing or if they are just different levels...
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Yup, systems may undergo overhauls while we're evaluating them. We will do our best to keep you notified.
 
just read through it. my thoughts:

you were very detailed and obviously knew everything you were talking about which makes the review superb

you added some laughter into it, for example the doom 3 time demo. lol, made me laugh.

now, i do however think i found a mistake, although not 100% sure and i may be wrong.

Our decision to purchase systems in the same manner as every other consumer does has many benefits, and in this case, we get to see all the goodies that Velocity Micro includes for customers that don't necessarily make it out to reviewers, along with assess the ordering process
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shouldn't it be does have? i dunno, has just didn't sound right or look right.

glad that you guys are reviewing oem pcs. do you guys have any plan for sony? i think people would enjoy that. like computers you'd find in your best buy.

also, what about the psu? it'd be interesting if you like stated the rails and if they were stable, if that was loud/hot running.

but, keep up the good work [H]ard. :)
 
TheJackal said:
just read through it. my thoughts:

you were very detailed and obviously knew everything you were talking about which makes the review superb

you added some laughter into it, for example the doom 3 time demo. lol, made me laugh.

now, i do however think i found a mistake, although not 100% sure and i may be wrong.



shouldn't it be does have? i dunno, has just didn't sound right or look right.

glad that you guys are reviewing oem pcs. do you guys have any plan for sony? i think people would enjoy that. like computers you'd find in your best buy.

also, what about the psu? it'd be interesting if you like stated the rails and if they were stable, if that was loud/hot running.

but, keep up the good work [H]ard. :)
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I reread that and it is correct, look at it this way:

"Our decision...has"
 
Fantastic review. Thanks for shooting straight with us about their instability--I fully support the automatic 5 point deduction.
 
Morley said:
I reread that and it is correct, look at it this way:

"Our decision...has"
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see, told you i wasn't 100% right. too many prepositional phrases. :D

still sounds wierd though. lol
 
Good review Chris. And to both you and Kyle, thanks for noting that the system uses a non-proprietary mobo and PSU.
 
excellent idea, buying like everyone else means we can get a genuine warts and all review.

I am interested in the comments of Randy Copeland, the MD to your findings, I would expect he would be mostly very happy with the results, but a little disappointed that the overclocking issue wasnt resolved in testing before dispatch.

But, thats is what end users would get, so not having preferential treatment is a fantastic idea.

Nige.
 
very nice review guys. i enjoyed reading it. you should 'stealth' order more of the more well known pc's to test.
 
I think the new style for doing system reviews is terrific, and gives us a great feel for what we would get if we purchased equipment from these companies.

The one thing that i'm not really sure if i like or not is having the product compared to previously reviewed products. Should this be in there or not? It seems to me that it should be reviewed based exclusively on it's own performance and not how something else performed. I think by the way this was written that was taken into consideration but some comparison still found its way in.

Is there a place for comparison.. sure.. in a review? maybe.. i don't know :)

just my opinions.. other opinions welcome, but please don't make yourself look stupid by saying how much of an idiot i am for thinking what i think.
 
TheJackal said:
see, told you i wasn't 100% right. too many prepositional phrases. :D

still sounds wierd though. lol
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I'm not sure if it's grammatically wrong, but for rhythm I would have left out 'does'. No need to add a reflexive verb.
 
Thanks everyone for you feedback.

To address a couple of questions.

While we try to address each system individually, there is room for comparison as any system doesn't exist in a vacuum, there are always alternatives, and we want to know what our opportunity costs are, so to speak. There are minor comparisons we do to put things in perspective, and it's a balance between no comparisons and those calling for blood wanting every system put against a custom built monstrosity that we put together by hand.

And to clarify, all systems from here on our are bought and paid for anonymously. The Gateway FX400XL was the last that was done the old way and we're very pleased with the feedback we're getting from OEMs. They understand the inherent flaws with the current review methodology that exists today, and we're glad we can be a pioneer in correcting it.
 
DNA Doc said:
I'm not sure if it's grammatically wrong, but for rhythm I would have left out 'does'. No need to add a reflexive verb.
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Ladies and Gentlement, DNA Doc is a Ph.D candidate, and is infernally detail oriented. Which is exactly why I hired him. ;)
 
Detail oriented, meticulous, obsessive-compulsive....semantics, semantics.. :p
 
I'd also like to give Kudos for a great, comprehensive system review, and thank Kyle and the team for listening when we said they were too lenient with stability issues in the last review. Glad to know that even though Kyle seems to hate people disagreeing with him in his own forums... (WINK) he still listens and changes stuff when it makes sense. Keep up the good work. :)
 
Nice review. I enjoyed reading it.

In your FX400XL system evaluation you mentioned that you prefer a full Operating system disk for restore, but that you did have a good backup and restore solution provided. In this VelocityM GE1500 article you mentioned that you were able to restore to "factory" but how would you rate this computer in it's ability to restore to "working"?

"Velocity Micro has a GREAT restore DVD, just insert the disk, reboot the machine, one click, and in under an hour you're back to the same factory-fresh settings that your system was shipped with. "

So this was a "Destructive restore"? I think you should take points off if this is the only option.

If this was the only option availiable did the manufacturer atleast give detailed instructions on how to do a windows backup?

IMHO it is important to be able to restore gaming rigs with all the time that is invested in loading / registering all the games they can hold.

Second, was there any antivirus software included? -if not, points off imo- All we need is more virrus proliferation!

Aloha,

Joe
 
Good review. I really like the idea of anonymous purchases. We all know that when OEMs send out "revew units", they are rarely the EXACT same unit that "Joe Sixpack" would purchase...

Nice stuff!
 
JOESKURTU said:
Nice review. I enjoyed reading it.

In your FX400XL system evaluation you mentioned that you prefer a full Operating system disk for restore, but that you did have a good backup and restore solution provided. In this VelocityM GE1500 article you mentioned that you were able to restore to "factory" but how would you rate this computer in it's ability to restore to "working"?

"Velocity Micro has a GREAT restore DVD, just insert the disk, reboot the machine, one click, and in under an hour you're back to the same factory-fresh settings that your system was shipped with. "

So this was a "Destructive restore"? I think you should take points off if this is the only option.

If this was the only option availiable did the manufacturer atleast give detailed instructions on how to do a windows backup?

IMHO it is important to be able to restore gaming rigs with all the time that is invested in loading / registering all the games they can hold.

Second, was there any antivirus software included? -if not, points off imo- All we need is more virrus proliferation!

Aloha,

Joe
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Joe, thanks for your feedback, I have noted your concerns and will be sure to address them in future evals.
 
Good review Morley BUT:

how did HardOcp purchase anonymously & get guaranteed the ability to return it afterwards?

So this Velocity Micro will let the average user purchase a $1500 system & if end user isn't satisfied they give a $1500 refund?
 
ZigZagZeppelin said:
Good review Morley BUT:

how did HardOcp purchase anonymously & get guaranteed the ability to return it afterwards?

So this Velocity Micro will let the average user purchase a $1500 system & if end user isn't satisfied they give a $1500 refund?
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We have a prior agreement with either the PR or Marketing department (and in this case the President) to do it this way. By anonymous that means that there's no reference to hardocp.com in the ordering process.
 
Am I correct in assuming that once you secure permission to return said system(s), you then do NOT provide any information as to when it is that you are ordering the system? Did you wait a few days before ordering or right after securing return-permission?
 
FrizzleFried said:
Am I correct in assuming that once you secure permission to return said system(s), you then do NOT provide any information as to when it is that you are ordering the system? Did you wait a few days before ordering or right after securing return-permission?
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The time frame varies, but the companies have no way to know when or how we order the system. For some, it's a few days, for others, more than a month. Our credit card doesn't say 'HardOCP'. They also have no way to know what computer model we purchase. Although they are free to suggest certain models, we make the decision as to what we buy and what it is equipped with.
 
ZigZagZeppelin said:
So this Velocity Micro will let the average user purchase a $1500 system & if end user isn't satisfied they give a $1500 refund?
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I'm not familiar with full system return policies for most OEM's, but logistically speaking, this is the only way that we can make this program work. Our goal is to review 60 systems per year. That's not possible if we actually have to purchase all of these systems for the full price with no hope of remuneration.
 
I'm not familiar with full system return policies for most OEM's, but logistically speaking, this is the only way that we can make this program work. Our goal is to review 60 systems per year. That's not possible if we actually have to purchase all of these systems for the full price with no hope of remuneration.
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60? Whoa...so we can expect more than a review a week (on average)....nice!
 
Morley said:
I reread that and it is correct, look at it this way:

"Our decision...has"
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The mistake is in the fact it should not be read this way; the sentence should stand on its own as:

'Our decision to purchase systems in the same manner as every other consumer'

The bad grammar comes in using the word 'does' in the sense that as somebody noted, it destroys the rhythm if nothing else. The result should therefore be 'does have'.

'Our decision...does have many benefits'

Or:

'Our decision to purchase systems in the same manner as every other consumer has many benefits'

(Or if you insisted on keeping your sentence ending with does, a comma after it).

'Our decision to purchase systems in the same manner as every other consumer does, has many benefits'
 
FrizzleFried said:
Am I correct in assuming that once you secure permission to return said system(s), you then do NOT provide any information as to when it is that you are ordering the system? Did you wait a few days before ordering or right after securing return-permission?
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What about shipping adress? It doesnt take a genius to figure out where your offices are and seeing if the delivery is CLOSE. Also I would guess its a business credit card of some form, not someones name. I dont think the volume of orders over the period of two months to your office location areas would be all that great so extra precautions could be taken - especially if the search could be refined to business card orders.
 
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